Speaker
Description
Not only was Vincenzo Galilei (1520–1591) the father of Galileo Galilei, he was also one of the leading figures of the late Renaissance musical revolution, which was characterised by an empirical approach. A vast body of literature exists on the role of experience and experimentation in Galilei’s work. Opinions range from Stillman Drake's (1974) high regard for Galilei as a pioneer and founder of the modern scientific method, to Daniel Pickering Walker's (1973) denial that he ever conducted an experiment. In this work, we will attempt to shed light on the role experimentation played in Galileo’s discovery of the principal laws of musical string vibration (Mersenne's law) by conducting a close analysis of all his available writings. Some of these were published during Galileo’s lifetime; others have been transcribed and published in modern times. A few are still in manuscript form and are preserved at the National Library of Florence.